With the Map Workshop you can find new maps, vote for favorites and subscribe to any map or game mode that you'd like. Steam will automatically download the map, and update it whenever the author makes a change. Workshop maps can used in quickmatches, private matches through Play With Friends, or even offline with bots.

Map makers can specify a wide range of gameplay-affecting settings. Stick to the standard CS formula, or create a totally new experience for players. Don't worry about trying something new or testing a unique feature because you can update your maps as often as you'd like. Players and servers that have subscribed will automatically get all new updates!

[ NOTABLE ]- Nerfed the Deagle.- Added a feature to spectate friends games via GOTV.&nbsp&nbsp-In 'Play With Friends,' if a friend is on an official matchmaking server the WATCH option will appear next to their name.- DM immunity changes:&nbsp&nbsp-Default immunity was raised to 10s.&nbsp&nbsp-Moving cancels immunity.

The debate over the relationship between violent games and violent behavior continues inside and outside the United States. In its initial response to the tragedy in Newtown, CT, the US government said it intends to ask the Centers for Disease Control to “study the root causes of gun violence, including any relationship to video games and media images.” Critics cite studies that link aggression and violent games, claiming that interactivity as a component of games makes them unusually potent. One politician labeled games as "electronic child molesters."

It's an enormous and serious topic—one that we believe gamers shouldn't shrug off, but take it upon themselves to engage critics and fellow citizens on. In the interest of that, Logan, Evan, and Tyler hopped into our podcast studio (inappropriately, the room that most makes it look like we're inside an insane asylum) to talk about their personal relationship with violence in games.

[ MAJOR CHANGES ]- A new game mode has been added to matchmaking and offline play: Deathmatch.- Weapon balance and recoil were adjusted with pro community input ( Thanks to J3Di, NiP, VeryGames, ESC, 4NOT, mTw, and FM TOXiC ) - In addition to global changes that affect all weapons, specific adjustments have been made to: rifles, pistols, and the P90.- Weapon purchasing changes: - The AWP's kill reward was increased from $50 to $100. - The Glock is now a Terrorist only weapon. - The FiveseveN is now a CT only weapon. - The Terrorists' molotov price has been reduced to $500. The CT's incendiary grenade remains $850. - Note that the pistol arrangement has changed in the buymenu.

- The messaging system has been converted to protobuf. - Demos recorded with previous versions of CS:GO will not be compatible as of this update. In order to view old demos, set your 'beta' to 'demo_viewer' in the CS:GO betas property panel, in Steam. Don't forget to set it back to 'NONE' when you want to play online again. - If you are running SourceMod on your server, you will need to update to the latest version. For details, see: http://www.sourcemod.net/index.php

[ MINOR CHANGES ]- Added some performance improvements for low-end clients.- Fixed some fence materials that were allowing players to see through smoke grenades.- GOTV spectator UI will now correctly show kevlar and helmet information for players.- Avatars will now correctly load for all players when connected to a GOTV server or when watching a demo.- Added support to notify players during servers maintenance downtime.- Fixed a dedicated server exploit where community dedicated servers could masquerade as official and get players searching for official game modes connected to them (saigns.de)- Fixed a rare problem when clients matchmaking for Classic Competitive game could be stuck on green Accept screen- Fixed a rare problem when clients could connect to a Classic Competitive game and then later be disconnected for failing to accept the match.- Improved algorithm pinging whitelisted dedicated servers when searching for Classic Competitive games, pinging less addresses fixes occasional problems for some customers where address translation tables on their routers would fill up and their routers would fail to route required packets to display the green Accept screen.- Added support for mm_dedicated_search_maxping to restrict client's ping when matchmaking for Classic Competitive games. ( Matchmaking algorithm will still be prioritizing best servers to minimize ping of all party members. )- Fixed a rare server crash when bots attempted to shoot the bomb defuser.- Fixed a client crash when downloading a lot of custom assets from community servers.

[ NOTES TO MAPMAKERS ]- DEATHMATCH: - Deathmatch uses the nav mesh to create spawn points. Make sure that your nav is contained within the bounds of your map to ensure that players aren't spawned outside of it. Use map_showspawnpoints to see where spawn points were generated. - If you want to use mapper-placed spawnpoints instead of the randomly generated ones, place an info_map_parameters in your map and set usenormalspawnsfordm ("Use Normal Spawns in Deathmatch?) to true.- WORKSHOP: - We're launching the private beta for workshop maps. If you're a map maker, mail csgo_sdk@list.valvesoftware.com with the subject "Map Workshop Beta" and your steam id in the content, with a link to maps shipped ( or maps in progress ) suitable for the Workshop.

- Please use the CSGO SDK list for discussions about Deathmatch and Workshop.

Someday, Valve will eventually run out of wonderful features to pack into its mega-gaming-hub Steam. Let's hope it's a long way off, because we'll all be busy poring over the user-written manuals, walkthroughs, and tips for our various games in the newly launched Steam Guides section of Steam's Community area.

Anyone can create and submit a guide for the game of their choice by clicking the new Guide tab on a game's Community Hub page. You can pretty up your words with images and embedded YouTube videos as well, and the guides also appear upon Steam's overlay whenever you're running a program. Neat. I can finally whip up my "How to avoid tigers" guide I've been planning for Far Cry 3 quickly and easily.

Head over to the Steam Guides page to take a look at the over 1,000 guides already created.

- Added Server Report panel. Player can use this panel to report server for things such as inappropriate content and bad performance etc.. This menu is accessible from the Pause Menu.- Improved competitive matchmaking algorithm to further reduce wait times.- Fixed 'rebuy previous' not working after the first round of rebuying.- Spawn points are now randomized every round.- Whitelisted con_filter convars for debugging.- Fixed damage taken and given not being fully reset in modes that aren't round-based.- Changing mp_warmuptime takes effect immediately.- Added concommands mp_warmup_start and mp_warmup_end, which restart and early terminate warmup, respectively.- Fixed exploit where cl_interp restrictions could be bypassed.- Alias command no longer allows aliasing over existing convars and concommands.- Fixed rare case of maps not matching requested game mode on dedicated servers- The client-side headshot feedback sound no longer plays for the local client when damaging another player in the head with a grenade explosion or when shooting them in the head through another surface (penetration)- Slightly reduced the client-side headshot feedback sound volume (spatialized sound is unaffected)- Fixed nameplate flicker in free cam mode during demo playback.- Fixed wall penetration on Linux dedicated servers- Fixed exploit where grenade projectiles were used to boost teammates.- Fixed a very rare server crash when firing a weapon.- Improved the error message shown when finding a game fails to locate an acceptable dedicated game server formerly reported as DS.- Improved memory management on servers with GOTV enabled.- Changed holiday cheer level to match CS1.6.

[ MISC ]* Added the ability to commend and report players from the player details view that can be accessed in the scoreboard.* Number of competitive wins, and unique commendations are now shown in the main menu along with skill group.* Competitive scoreboard will show number of competitive wins needed to display your skill group if you have not displayed it yet. * Fixed movement on ladders ignoring the walk button. Now climbing ladders while holding walk is slow and silent, which fixes previous exploit of being able to climb ladders at fullspeed without making sound.* Fixed failure to fire after weapon switching away from a reload and back (fake-reloading).* Whitelisted tv_password convar to set GOTV password.* Reduced fps in main menu when not connected to a server from 300 fps to 120 fps to help with laptops and desktop video cards doing excessive work. Exposed fps_max_menu convar to control fps in main menu.* Added one more minute of grace period for players to reconnect to their competitive match before a cooldown for failing to reconnect is assigned. Cooldown for failing to reconnect is now assigned after player has remained disconnected for at least 4 minutes, not counting the round of disconnection and not counting the round in which 4 minutes grace period elapses.* Fixed Hammer crash on exit.* Added some holiday cheer.

Far Cry 3's included level editor provides all the tools and textures necessary for crafting unique multiplayer maps, but one tinkerer has instead taken to recreating some very familiar locales with uncanny accuracy. As reported by MP1st, user ShadowZack has shared a series of maps fashioned after popular arenas from Battlefield, Call of Duty, and Counter-Strike.

You can nab ShadowZack's works through Far Cry 3's in-game multiplayer map search simply by typing his name. You'll find Battlefield 3's Noshahr Canals and Wake Island, Counter-Strike's Dust and Aztec, and Call of Duty's Nuketown all carefully recreated right down to the placement of crates and convenient slabs of concrete cover. ShadowZack also released some flyby and progress videos for the maps as they were constructed, which you can watch below.

Far Cry 3 itself has two gigantic jungle island environments. We got lost. We shot animals. We drank weird potions. We wrote a review, so have a look.

[ GAMEPLAY ]&nbsp-Merged elements of Volcano's DE_NUKE_VE map into standard DE_NUKE.&nbsp-In the main menus, replaced mapgroup carousel with a map picker. Players can now select which maps they want to match-make into.&nbsp-Maps in map picker show expected wait time.

[ MISC ]&nbsp-Improved performance in CPU-bound cases.&nbsp-Fixed missing ladder sound when moving at full speed on ladders.&nbsp-Added support for muting microphone in play with friends lobby.&nbsp-Fixed cases where spectator UI wouldn't appear during GOTV demo playback.&nbsp-Fix for crash caused by extinguished fire.&nbsp-ESC key now closes Server Browser dialog.&nbsp-Made CHudMenu have input priority over Scaleform.&nbsp-Reduced default vgui font size for resolutions >1600.&nbsp-Whitelisted mp_match_restart_delay.&nbsp-Limiting physics timestep to 64 to eliminate high tickrate physics bugs, such as bouncing guns.&nbsp-Server no longer creates physics objects for players to reduce server cpu load. To re-enable, set cs_enable_player_physics_box to '1'.